Civic Center Site Requires Soil Tests

WINTER PARK — City commissioners got the bad news Monday that the proposed site for the new civic center is unstable because there are tons of garbage buried there.

This newest development means construction at Lake Island Estates might be further delayed and the project will cost more than the expected $767,000.

City Manager David Harden told the commission that the engineering firm of Jammal & Associates was hired in March to do soil tests at the proposed Harper Street-Morse Boulevard site. Eight shallow holes were bored about 25 feet deep and two more than 100 feet deep. Garbage was found as deep as 19 feet below the building site.

Harden told the commission six more holes will have to be bored to determine the area covered by garbage.

''The problem is the garbage found was in the top 20 feet,'' said Harden later. If the center is built on unstable soil, the building will settle and could have structural problems, officials said.

The city has three alternatives, Harden said. It can relocate the building or build it on pilings or dig up the garbage and fill the area with soil. The last option is the fastest and cheapest, he said. Harden would not estimate how much removal of the garbage would add to the civic center's construction cost.

The commission wanted to know why the architectural firm of Catalyst Inc. Architecture had not checked the stability of the soil before designing the building. The city and Catalyst knew garbage had been dumped at the site for many years, but did not know the extent of the dumping.

Harden said soil tests had been conducted at the site in 1983, but that was before a specific spot was chosen for the building. In March city staff members decided to have more tests done when they realized the original tests were done some distance from the current proposed location. The original tests showed no problem.

Mark Burrell, project coordinator for Catalyst Inc., said his firm told the city several months ago to have more tests done.

''The city was contracted with the soil engineer Jammal & Associates and it's strictly within the city's responsibility,'' said Burrell. ''We questioned it soil stability months ago. The city responded that they would take care of it . . . It's their property and whatever is there did not arrive yesterday. Whatever is there does not preclude putting the building there.''

Burrell said soil tests are a normal construction procedure but the only problem is the timing.

''It's really not news and not unusual. It's just something that came last, for whatever reason, in the schedule of events,'' Burrell said. ''Nobody should be blamed. It is our responsibility to tell them this should be done and we did that . . . It's not an additional cost -- it's money that would have had to be spent.''

''I think it's going to add substantially to the cost of building . . . if we move the site we will have to delay construction,'' said Commissioner David Johnston. ''The disturbing fact is that the professionals we hired to do the building did not see the necessity for this.''

''I don't think it's fair to criticize the architect,'' said Commissioner Gary Brewer. ''We gave him the results that the site was tested and was stable for building.''

''What is important is the borings were done prior to getting the bids,'' Harden said. ''Perhaps Catalyst should have asked for a check. It was aware of the history of the site and where the borings that were done in 1983 were.''

Public works director Jim Williams said the additional tests will be completed by the end of the week. Construction bids will be opened Thursday.

''Information on the 10 new borings were given to people who picked up bid packets,'' Harden said. ''What is presented in the construction specs is an estimate on the extent of the garbage removal work that will be needed.''

Harden said the city plans to have the contractor remove the garbage because the city does not have all the needed equipment.

Winter Park Memorial Hospital bought the city's old civic center at 2005 Mizell Ave. and the city is supposed to vacate it by December. Because of delays in completing the architectural plans, the city is on a tight construction schedule. The contractor would be required to complete the 12,000-square-foot building by early December but that deadline now looks even more unlikely, Harden said.

''It's more time and it's something we didn't anticipate earlier,'' he said. ''It could add about two weeks to the time.''